That’s what NBA expert Chris Broussard believes.
Lakers superstar LeBron endured the longest injury lay-off of his 16-season career in the league after picking up a groin strain against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day.
Los Angeles slid down the Western Conference standings while without the four-time MVP, going 6-11 while suffering embarrassing losses to the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers – two of the worst teams in the NBA.
But even since LeBron returned, L.A. have gone 2-4 with the 34-year-old sitting out one of those losses after playing 40 minutes in an overtime win against the LA Clippers on his first night back.
The forward had 28 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds – plus a joint-season-best three steals – in Atlanta on Tuesday night as the Lakers suffered a 117-113 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
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That puts Luke Walton’s team on a 28-29 record and below a .500 winning percentage for the first time since November, with their playoff hopes understandably coming into question with just 25 games of the regular season remaining.
Yet Broussard is confident the Lakers will right the ship once LeBron gets back to his absolute best.
“LeBron has been back for five games. He’s played five of the last six,” Broussard told Fox Sports Radio.
“I don’t know if he’s not 100 per-cent, I don’t know if it’s age, [but] he doesn’t look like himself.
“If he plays like the 25 games like he’s played these last five, I don’t care what the numbers say, we’re going to have to start saying, ‘Father Time is really starting to catch you.’
“But here’s the thing, early in the season, close to mid-way through – Christmas Day – they’re the fourth seed, 20-14, six games over .500 and they beat the Golden State Warriors.
“That’s the last time this team was healthy. You can’t tell me LeBron hasn’t had an impact.
“They lost him for 17 games, they go 6-11 and they blew it without him.
“It’s taking him a little while [for him] to get the bearings [again].
“If three weeks into the return, if we get back from the All-Star break and this is going on, he’s going to have to take some blame.”